Chorlton Family Practice

On this page

• Overview
• Learning culture
• Safe systems, pathways and transitions
• Safeguarding
• Involving people to manage risks
• Safe environments
• Safe and effective staffing
• Infection prevention and control
• Medicines optimisation

This service scored 78 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. They listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice. People felt supported to raise concerns and felt staff treated them with compassion and understanding. Representatives from the Patient Participation Group (PPG) felt the provider took concerns seriously and proactively made improvements to the service. Managers encouraged staff to raise concerns when things went wrong. During monthly staff meetings, which the whole team were invited to attend, the team discussed and learnt from clinical and non-clinical issues. Meeting notes and any learning from significant event analysis were sent out to staff so that any learning from significant events could be undertaken by all staff. The feedback was done in such a way so as not to identify any individual staff member to the wider team. This encouraged others to speak up when things went wrong and helped to build an open culture which staff told us there was.

The service worked with people and healthcare partners to establish and maintain safe systems of care, in which safety was managed or monitored. They made sure there was continuity of care, including when people moved between different services. There were systems in place for processing information relating to new patients. The service worked with other providers to deliver shared care and when patients moved between services. There were no delays in recording urgent information coming to the practice from other services however, there were delays with getting non urgent or routine information coded correctly. The practice provided evidence to demonstrate they took immediate action to address the delays and manage the workload in the future.

The service worked with people and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that. They concentrated on improving people’s lives while protecting their right to live in safety, free from bullying, harassment, abuse, discrimination, avoidable harm and neglect. The service shared concerns quickly and appropriately. Safeguarding policies were in place and known to staff, who were appropriately trained in safeguarding procedures. The practice maintained a list of vulnerable people and acted on concerns working in partnership with other organisations. Staff knew who the safeguarding leads were for the practice.

The service worked with people to understand and manage risks by thinking holistically. They provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them. Emergency equipment was available and maintained by the clinical staff within the practice. Regular emergency oxygen checks were completed by the pharmacist. Staff could recognise a deteriorating patient and knew what action to take. Patients were advised on risks related to their condition and actions to take if their condition deteriorated. There was a facility to request assistance if clinicians had a deteriorating patient or they had a patient that was a risk to staff.

The service was fully aware of potential risks in the care environment and controlled them well. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. The building was managed by NHS Property services and the correct contracts were in place to ensure the premises were maintained. Health and safety risk assessments and audits had been undertaken and risks identified had been addressed. There was a business continuity plan in place which was monitored and reviewed at regular intervals. The waiting area was clean and tidy and free from clutter. There were adequate chairs which were comfortable and could be wiped down easily.

The service made sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received effective support, supervision and development. They worked together well to provide safe care that met people’s individual needs. There was a range of clinical and non-clinical roles within the practice. We found training was up to date, learning needs and development of staff was managed appropriately, and staff were working within their agreed areas of competence. Safe recruitment practices were followed. There was a dedicated member of the admin team that looked at rotas to make sure the staffing levels were adequate for the needs of service users. The rotas were completed weekly and were on display on the wall for all Staff to see.

The service thoroughly assessed and managed the risk of infection. They quickly detected and controlled the risk of it spreading and always shared concerns with appropriate agencies promptly. The practice had a designated infection, prevention and control lead and all staff had had relevant training. The infection prevention control lead had introduced a UV light and UV hand wash soap which was used to show staff where they needed to improve hand washing techniques. This was being rolled out to patients and children that attended the practice to help with education on how important it is to make sure hands are washed correctly. Cleaning schedules were in place and followed. Risk assessments and audits were completed, and actions taken to mitigate risks.

The service made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. They involved people in planning their care and treatment, including when changes happened. Staff involved people in reviews of their medicines and helped them understand how to manage their medicines safely. People knew what to do and who to contact if their condition did not improve or they experienced any unexpected symptoms. Staff received regular training, were competency assessed on medicines optimisation, and felt confident managing the storage, administration and recording of medicines. Staff managed prescription stationery appropriately and securely. Vaccines and medications were stored at the correct temperatures. Staff regularly checked the stock levels and expiry dates for all medicines, including emergency medicines. Waste medicines were recorded and disposed of appropriately. Staff stored medical gases, such as oxygen, safely and completed required safety risk assessments. We did not look at individual prescribing of medicines on this inspection.